In Praise Of The Cider Donut
In an era of pumpkin lattes, a humble cider donut offers, for some, a Proustian moment, indelibly fixed on the consciousness, a memory as enduring as this writer’s recollection of the very grease on the outside of the paper bag the donuts arrived in.
Today, you can count on over 65 orchards in the Hudson River, Berkshires and Litchfield County regions to pick apples and inhale the miracle of a warm cider donut made with fresh pressed juice from apples likely grown just steps away.
Where did this ubiquitous tradition come from? It all started in the late 1950s when a national donut consortium plotted to bring together two American favorites; apples and donuts. They shared the notion with orchard owners, who pounced upon it, seeing a chance to lure even more unsuspecting citizens to their farms to help harvest the crop.
Donuts at Taconic Orchards, Hudson, NY
The donuts, made with flour, baking spices and spiked with the orchard’s own apple cider were to be a fall version of fried dough popular during the time of Lent and at county fairs. Then and now, cider donuts are available in two varieties; plain, or dipped in a mix of sugar and cinnamon.
Warm cider donuts are an act of love for local purveyors, some of whom work around the clock in the fall. Four generations currently work the orchard, the farm store and the fryolator at Bartlett’s Apple Orchard and Farm Market, a 24-acre farm perched just under Lenox Mountain in the Berkshires.
Bartlett’s is headed up by Rick Bartlett and his brother Ron, as well as their wives and children. The multi-generational farm began as a spark of an idea back before cider donuts were even on the map.
“My dad bought the place right out of college,” says Rick who credits the family with helping to harvest the 11,000 bushels of apples during the insanely busy season that is autumn harvest.
In the late 1940s, their father, Fran Bartlett, so enjoyed his summers working on the farm that he and his wife Betty moved to Richmond as soon as they secured financing from his parents. After a rocky start in the beginning due to bad weather and poor soil conditions, a bumper crop of apples in 1953 made it possible for Fran and Betty to build the farm market that stands today on Swamp Road. Cider donuts made their appearance when they hired a baker in the 80s.
When it comes to families and orchards, its seems. apples don’t fall far from the tree. In Kinderhook, a fifth-generation farm owned by the Samascott family is also locked and loaded for the season with family members, yearly and seasonal staff, and a smattering of pets in two locations, the farm store and the orchard. Suggestions: Get to the store early in the day for hot donuts fresh out of the fryer. There are donuts at the orchard as well.
Everyone seems to have a favorite orchard when this time of year rolls around, but is there a gold standard for the cider donut? Most likely it is the one that you remember the taste of years later. My memory and my experience of it today is as follows: Crunchy on the outside, pound cake interior with some little holes for loft, and a distinct apple flavor. This version of the cider donut is sent out on trays all day long at Golden Harvest in Valatie, beginning at 8 a.m. If that weren’t enough, the farm’s distillery offering craft cocktails and hard cider is open. If you get there early, stick around for some barbecue at Harvest Smokehouse adjacent to the market as you're enjoying the donuts.
Please Support Rural Intelligence
We want to continue delivering the entertaining, informative and upbeat stories in the inimitable Rural Intelligence style, despite a pandemic. But we need your support to keep us going. Please consider making a donation; even a small amount helps secure our future. Support us now.
(If you prefer, mail a check to: 45 Pine Grove Ave., Suite 303, Kingston, NY 12401.)
Support Now